The niche and paratextual industries of games and play

Modding Magic And My Own Experience

The introduction of modding to gaming was revolutionary in many ways. It meant that games were more than a mere product, as closed sourced as a book, and transformed them into tools for creating individual play experiences. Mods themselves can take many different forms, whether it be Halo’s forge tools or Steam’s in depth modding systems. As modding becomes easier and more accessible it encourages people to contribute to the games they play, effectively making this form entertainment forever renewable and plentiful.

My personal experience with mods stretches only as far as map creators and some basic Fallout 3 modding, but the level of engagement I achieved from small contributions to my game world feel huge. In many ways having the ability to change and or add to game worlds initially at least is a kin to the old ideal of breaking the fourth wall.